Primary or Secondary? The Founding Era is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on telling primary from secondary sources about the founding, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.His.9.3-5. It prints 3 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 24 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

One paper per student

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Primary or Secondary? The Founding Era

D2.His.9.3-5

NameDate

Sort each source: primary or secondary?

1.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A website summary of the Boston Tea Party written last year, A modern atlas map showing where the battles were fought, Paul Revere's 1770 engraving of the Boston Massacre, James Madison's notes taken during the Constitutional Convention

PrimarySecondary

2.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: An encyclopedia article about Thomas Jefferson, Abigail Adams's letter to John Adams, 1776, A fifth-grade textbook chapter on the Revolution, The Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776

PrimarySecondary

3.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A historian's book about women in the Revolution, A letter George Washington wrote to Congress during the war, A magazine article in which a historian explains the Stamp Act, A British officer's 1775 report on the Battle of Bunker Hill

PrimarySecondary

LessonPrint · D2.His.9.3-5 · Set 24 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Primary or Secondary? The Founding Era

Set 24. Prints on its own sheet.

1.1. A modern atlas map showing where the battles were fought — Secondary 2. A website summary of the Boston Tea Party written last year — Secondary 3. James Madison's notes taken during the Constitutional Convention — Primary 4. Paul Revere's 1770 engraving of the Boston Massacre — Primary
2.1. A fifth-grade textbook chapter on the Revolution — Secondary 2. Abigail Adams's letter to John Adams, 1776 — Primary 3. An encyclopedia article about Thomas Jefferson — Secondary 4. The Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776 — Primary
3.1. A British officer's 1775 report on the Battle of Bunker Hill — Primary 2. A historian's book about women in the Revolution — Secondary 3. A letter George Washington wrote to Congress during the war — Primary 4. A magazine article in which a historian explains the Stamp Act — Secondary

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.His.9.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.